Cable Technology Feature Article

The recent Quarterly Access Report from Dell’Oro Group reveals that worldwide revenue for DSL, Cable and PON Access equipment recorded the first sequential increase in a year, in the second quarter of 2009. The growth has been propelled by strong EPON shipments to China and Japan. The combined Access revenue also increased 2 percent over the previous quarter.

PON has exhibited double-digit revenue growth both sequentially and over the year-ago period in the access market. On the other hand, DSL and Cable each experienced steep declines over the year-ago period.

According to Tam Dell’Oro, president of Dell’Oro Group, two important factors that impact demand for access equipment are broadband subscriber additions and network upgrades. Total broadband subscriber additions have been lower since 2006. This in turn has a negative impact on equipment demand, especially for a slower-speed technology like ADSL.

The group further said, the positive side are the upgrade projects that are being driven by competition, increasing internet traffic, government incentives and the desire by operators to enable new revenue-generating services like TV over broadband. These upgrade projects increasingly drive demand for higher-speed PON, VDSL and Cable DOCSIS 3.0 equipment.